GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - With the holiday season fast approaching and more visitors expected at local beaches, the Western Cape provincial government recently launched their water safety programme.
The Western Cape experiences an average of 200 fatal drowning incidents per year, with children under five years old most at risk (4.7 deaths per 100 000 population).
In an effort to tackle these statistics, the Western Cape government commissioned the South African Medical Research Council to develop a drowning prevention and water safety framework for the Western Cape, the first of its kind in the country.
The framework is a collaborative project including input from many water safety stakeholders in the Western Cape and was launched this past week in Yzerfontein.
Framework
Anton Bredell, the minister of Local Government, Environmental Affairs and Development Planning in the Western Cape says funds to the amount of R242 000 were provided for the development of the Western Cape Strategic Framework for Drowning Prevention and Water Safety,
“This framework determines and assesses high risk areas and seeks to develop mitigation strategies to decrease the drowning in targeted population groups and areas.”
Professor Ashley van Niekerk, who led the collaborative team on the development of the framework, says that the major focus of this initiative was to identify priority drowning risks, high-risk activities, equipment and the communities most affected.
“The framework then highlights prevention efforts that are currently being implemented and others that may be considered appropriate for the prevention of drowning in the province.”
The head of department, Local Government, in the Western Cape Graham Paulse, Sonja Chinnian, Jacqui Pandaram, Colin Deiner and Ferdie Julies (all from the provincial disaster management centre). Photo: JB Styan
Dr Colleen Saunders, who co-ordinated the Water Safety Task Team that provided input to the Western Cape Strategic Framework for Drowning Prevention and Water Safety, says "the key to the success of this project is the collaborative nature of the project.
"Many stakeholders including Lifesaving South Africa, the National Sea Rescue Institute, Western Cape Government, and the academic community, were key contributors to this project."
NSRI supported
In addition to launching the framework, the department handed over its annual cheques to the Lifesaving Western Cape and the National Sea Rescue Institute.
“For years now the Department of Local Government,through its Provincial Disaster Management Centre (PDMC), has financially supported these entities that are so critical to water safety in our province and to help to ensure this province can respond proactively to water-related incidents in the Western Cape.
"Both Lifesaving WC and the NSRI are non-profit organisations and these organizations depend and operate purely on donations and sponsorships. They are a vital stakeholder for our province,” said Bredell.
The amount for 2017/18 that the department allocated to the organisations is R414 000 each.
“An additional amount of R585 000 was provided as a once-off to the NSRI in 2016/17 for the procurement of three new vessels based at Yzerfontein, Wilderness and Langebaan.
"This represents the ongoing support of entities that are protecting the public in our waters,” says Bredell.
The first of these vessels, named Sonja, was launched in Yzerfontein recently.
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